Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

‘Mumma?’ The curious five-year old tugged at his mother’s dress. The mother kneeled to be able to look into her son’s beautiful, big cat eyes that he had inherited from his father,

‘Yes, my darling boy, what is it?’

‘Where are we going?’

‘We are going to a beautiful place called Idris.’

‘Why?’

‘Your father has to go and teach small kids like you who live there, so we all are going with him.’ The kid nodded,

‘When will we be back here?’

‘I’m afraid I don’t know, Magnus.’

***

Raging flames surrounding him. He was back in his 10-year old body. The heat, terrible heat trying to consume him as tears streamed down his cheeks. He never liked the feeling that came along with the crying. He heard the hysterical laughter echoing around him and then a whisper,

‘Magnus,’ a voice that calmed his rapidly beating heart, ‘It’s okay, everything will be okay.’

Magnus woke up sweating. He flicked his fingers for a glass of water and drank it whole. The nightmares had made a reappearance in the warlock’s life and they were driving him crazy.

He opened the curtains with his hands, lingering by the window for another second long to absorb the warmth of the morning sun. He knew that he had enough work to do to be distracted or bothered by the stupid nightmares. He had appointments to attend to, potions to brew for clients (his mentor’s clients that is), and a dozen other things which had made to his checklist for the day. He decided to drink some tea to calm his nerves and to clear his head so that he could function normally throughout the day.

However, he still wasn’t good enough at not lingering in the past. And as Ragnor, his mentor (and the High Warlock of London) always said,

‘You still have a lot to learn, young warlock.’  But he knew he was quite mature, owing to the fact that his closest friends were centuries old while he had hardly reached the third decade of his existence.

***

Maryse Lightwood still vividly remembers the day her first child was born. She remembers how the room was so bright that she had to squint her eyes at Angel Raziel who was in front of her in all his glory. He had picked up the newborn child from the crib to hold in his arms. Maryse had been too stunned to say anything. He had run his fingers over the little baby’s head carefully,

‘His name will be Alexander and he will grow up to be the ultimate protector of the Shadow World. I bless him today with gifts that will be only used by him for the common good. I bless him today with immortality.’  He had handed the baby over to Maryse and disappeared into thin air. She had tears in her eyes as she looked at her child who was draped in a white silk cloth now. She didn’t know what had she done to deserve this divine blessing but she was proud. It was only when she looked at her child closely, she realized he had small wings on his back.

She smiles as she now peeks through the door to looks at her child who was a man now, sleeping peacefully dreaming about Angel knows what.

***

‘Alec, that’s cheating!’ Jace pants, sitting on one knee. Alec grins,

‘Now, when did I ever do that?’ Jace rolls his eyes at him,

‘Using your wings for speed? That’s not fair.’ Alec stands on the windowsill,

‘Then you ought to grow some!’ With that he falls from the window and let the winds carry him. The rush of adrenaline is the same every time as he gets closer to hitting to the ground but just a flap of his silver-colored wings (with blue streaks) and he is floating in the sky.

Alec draws a rune on himself to glamour his wings as he sits on the edge of his bed remembering the 9-year old carefree Alec. But things had changed since then. A lot had changed over the years.

Chapter Text

Magnus had seen the boy a few times now. He wanted to be friends with the shy boy with wings because he was the only other kid around and he was bored.

He was trying to play catch with the grumpy cat, Church but it seemed to be disinterested in the blue ball of light in Magnus’ hands. It was only when the cat had walked away, he looked up to find the shy boy staring at him. Magnus grinned at him and walked towards him,

‘Hello, I’m Magnus. I came here to live with Mumma and Papa.’ Alec looked flustered,

‘Uh—are you a warlock?’ Magnus beamed,

‘Yes, I am!’

‘Cool, I’m a Shadowhunter.’ Magnus stretched out his hand remembering the etiquette his mother had taught him,

‘Nice to meet you, what is your name?’

‘Alexander, but you can call me Alec, everyone does.’

‘Alexander, would you like to play catch with me. Church doesn’t really like it.’ Alec finally smiled, tension bleeding away from his shoulders,

‘Okay, let’s play.’

***

Alec folded his arms and frowned,

‘I want to go to the institute. I don’t want to stay here anymore.’ Maryse pinched the bridge of her nose,

‘We have gone over this a thousand times, Alec. You can’t go anywhere, you’re far too important. Besides, you have a lot of work here.’

‘Politics isn’t my thing and anyway what’s the use of my powers if I can’t put them to use. I want to go on patrols and missions like Jace and Izzy.’ Alec felt the worry of his mother turn to anger when she stated,

‘You aren’t going anywhere.’ Alec turned his back on his mother and walked away,

‘Fine.’

Alec had already planned his escape, he just felt like asking his mother one more time so that he doesn’t feel guilty later on. Once Alec was in his bedroom, he took his bag and drew a portal rune with his stele for going to the only place he knew about in the mundane world other than New York.

London.

He had already left a note on his desk for his family. In it, he had warned them to not try and find him because he’ll be activating his anti-tracking rune. He had also written that he’d be back once he had a taste of the outer world.

Everyone knew that he had some unique powers but no one knew what exactly were his powers. He was not into showing off his powers and he felt like he should keep them to himself until the time comes when he really needs to use them. Despite the several experiments Inquisitor Herondale had tried to run on him, he had succeeded to keep his powers hidden.

But the time had come, he had waited for too long.

***

‘No!’ A ten-year old Alec had screamed as he had dropped to his knees when his mother broke the bad news to him in the Academy where he had been training with his sister. The pain in Alec’s eyes had shot daggers to Maryse’s heart but she had to make her son strong so she asked him not to make a fuss about it and to get himself together. Those were harsh words, that Maryse’s mouth had formed, especially for a 10-year old who had just lost his best friend, a 10-year old who was not old enough to be even vaguely familiar with the concept of death.

Alec was never the same anymore.

***

Chapter Text

Magnus sighed and leaned against a wall, having finished with cleaning up Ragnor’s apothecary. He mumbled under his breath,

‘That old bastard won’t do a single thing himself.’ Ragnor Fell walked in,

‘Thinking about me Muffin?’ Magnus rolled his eyes,

‘Don’t call me that, you old Cabbage.’

‘Have you bought the rights to be the only one who can give nicknames?’ Magnus ignores,

‘I believe I have completed all your petty work which—did I mention—you’re supposed to do yourself?’ Ragnor smiles,

‘Now, now, you know how busy I am.’ Magnus scoffs,

‘Busy polishing those horns of yours?’

‘It seemed you were going to me ask me for permission to go back to your fabulous apartment?’ Magnus walks away,

‘I don’t need your permission, I’ve done my work, I’m allowed to leave.’

Ragnor sighs as he hears the slam of the door as Magnus walks himself out of his mansion. He remembers the strings he had to pull to buy an apartment that would suit to Magnus’ tastes. Though it was completely fine initially when Magnus was living with him but one day, he caught the former in bed with a handsome Seelie knight and he finally decided to buy Magnus a personal space. As much as he loved the boy dearly, he will not accept Magnus’ bedfellows to be under his roof, for however long that might be.

***

Alec felt the breeze hit him as he stepped out of the portal, holding the picture tightly in his hand. It was the only thing that he had stolen from the grinning boy in the picture. He was in the same place as in the picture. Now, that he had actually made it here, he didn’t know what to do next.

He looked down at the river beneath the bridge and sighed. He remembered the river’s name to be Thames. He was hardy familiar with how the mundane world worked, thanks to his parents but he was allowed one mundane privilege—A phone with internet access and he had already researched about what kind of mundane job he’ll have to do to meet a lot of people. On walking ahead a few more kilometers, with the help of directions on his phone, he found the nearest café.

He entered the café and made his way to the kiosk behind which a woman was standing with pink dyed hair, multiple nose rings, and almost every inch of her skin was covered with drawings in black ink,

‘Good morning, what would you like to order?’ Alec cleared his throat,

‘I’d like to speak with the owner…for a job.’

‘Oh, you must be Kent, huh? Wait here, I’ll let him know you’re here.’ Alec was confused but decided to play along.

The owner was a middle-aged man who looked quite handsome and fit for his age. He reached out to Alec to shake his hand,

‘Mr. Grayson, I thought you weren’t going to make it today. You had left a message saying that you had caught the flu?’

‘I was actually feeling quite better after a good night’s sleep.’ The man laughs,

‘Okay, that’s great.’ He pointed at the pink-haired woman, ‘Mona will train you till you get accustomed.’ Alec smiled,

‘Thank you.’ Alec sighed a breath of relief “That was easy.” The man was about to leave when he turned to Alec and narrowed his eyes,

‘You’re not from around here, are you?’ Alec gulped, when the man continued, ‘I mean, your accent…’

‘Uh, yeah—I moved here couple of days back from New York.’ The man smiles,

‘That makes sense.’ The man leaves and Mona snaps at him,

‘Lose the leather and take the apron.’ Alec grabbed it just before it hit his face. Alec grinned. He was already enjoying all of it. Back in Idris, glamour or not, everyone used to stare at him with awe whenever he passed them. Here, no one bothered to look at him twice, and it felt much better than he had expected.

***

A 10-year old Magnus was sitting on the edge of Lake Lyn, waiting for his best friend. Alec still hadn’t arrived though his classes at the Academy were over long back. Bored, Magnus made the water dance. Magnus looked into the water as something had caught his eye. A tear made its way out of his left eye as he stared at the image of his mother on the surface of the water. He is reminded of the day his mother died. It was a very insignificant day, and it was evening when Magnus was curled up in the sofa, reading a book. He was waiting for his mother to come back from the New York Institute, where she worked alongside Shadowhunters to fight demons. He closed his book when he heard a sound, thinking his mother was back. It was Asmodeus who had stumbled into the room,

‘Magnus—’ Magnus rushed to his father who wasn’t able to maintain his balance. Magnus tried to hold his father,

‘What happened, papa?’ Asmodeus’ eyes were glassy,

‘Your mother—’ He tried to form words but he kept choking on them. Just when he managed to get the word out ‘Dead.’, Magnus realized that he couldn’t feel the warm magic of his mother anymore.

A sudden pat on the back retrieves Magnus from his thought spiral,

‘I’m sorry I’m late. I was training with Jace.’ Alec notices the redness in the eyes of his friend when he looks up. Alec pulls Magnus into a hug, ‘It’s okay Magnus, I’m here for you. We all are here for you.’ Magnus sobs into his shoulder and feels Alec’s wings wrap around him. It felt warm, it felt familiar. He wanted to stay like that, forever.

Chapter Text

Magnus had a house call to attend to in the morning. Once he had freshened up, he scrolled through his messages to find the address that Ragnor had texted him last night. He was happy to see that it was near one of his favorite coffee shops. He was so neck-deep in work for the last few weeks that he hadn’t been able to do anything for leisure. He decided to grab coffee and breakfast from that café before going to the house that had requested Ragnor’s magical assistance in something important.

Magnus made his way into the café and made his order before finding himself a seat near a window.

*

Alec was cleaning mugs with a cloth and arranging them in an order when the ring of the door made him look up and he saw a magnificent young man entered the room. His eyes couldn’t stop raking the man while he was making his order and greeting Mona like an old friend. He shook his head and pulled himself out of his trance. He had been aware of his sexuality for a while now. The faceless man in his dreams had made it clear. No one knew about it and he did not want anyone to know either. He is supposed to be the epitome of “purity”. Mundanes might have evolved a lot but Shadowhunters still looked down upon homosexuality like it was even disgusting to talk about it. 

He was done with the mugs and he rushed to Oliver who was about to serve that man, and spoke in the sweetest voice ever,

‘Hey, I’ll take that.’ Oliver smiled dreamily,

‘Yeah sure.’ Alec had just used one of his powers. It didn’t work all the time but he was hoping it would this time and it did. He took the tray and, set the plate and mugs it on the table in front of the man who was slightly engrossed in his phone.

Magnus looked up at the tall man wearing a half-sleeved t-shirt and an apron, and smiled,

‘Thank you, dear. You’re new here?’ Alec realized that the smile felt familiar but he replied nonetheless,

‘Yeah.’ Magnus glanced at his runes and chuckled,

‘Never thought I would have the privilege of seeing a Shadowhunter work in a café. Demon-hunting got a bit boring?’ Alec’s eyes widened,

‘Wait…how do you know?’

‘I’m a warlock.’ Magnus paused to take a sip of his coffee, ‘What’s your name?’

‘Um…Kent Grayson.’ Magnus’ eyes held confusion.

‘Wait… that’s not a Shadowhunter name!’ Before Alec could say anything, he heard a shout from Mona calling him. Magnus flicked his fingers and a piece of paper appeared out of nowhere. He handed it to Alec, ‘Look, I know you might have your reasons to not disclose your name but it seems you could use a Downworlder as a friend. Call me if you need any kind of help or if things get too mundane.’ Alec put the paper in his pocket without looking at it and smiled at him in a way of “thank you” before rushing to work.

Magnus had all but sighed at the sight of the beautiful Shadowhunter. But he was sure that it wasn’t just his beauty that made him want to get to know him. His hazel eyes were warm, welcoming even. There was something familiar about him that he couldn’t put his finger on but was curious nonetheless and hoped to receive a call from the—apparently troubled—half-angel.

***

Alec was idly sitting in front of the fireplace trying to engross himself in the book he was reading. He looked up and smiled at Magnus who was lying on the couch skimming through what looked like an album. Alec couldn’t stop the words that his mouth formed next,

‘Do you miss being back there?’ Magnus looked at him, startled but replied anyway,

‘New York?’ Alec nodded, ‘I guess I do…sometimes.’ Magnus straightened up, ‘But I like it here more. I didn’t really have a friend back there.’ Alec smiled, definitely feeling proud. Magnus frowned, ‘Don’t look so smug. I miss pizza a lot! I would choose it over you any day.’ Alec chuckled and tried to concentrate on the book again. Magnus patted on the space beside him,

‘Come here, I want to show you something.’ Alec got up to sit beside his best friend,

‘What is it?’ Magnus pointed at the album on his lap. Alec peered in it to see a picture of a grinning and a much younger version of Magnus standing on a bridge.

‘It’s three years back, just before we came to Idris.’ Magnus continued, ‘Uncle Ragnor had invited us to spend the weekend with him.’ Alec cleared his throat, clearly identifying him to be one of his teachers at the Academy.

‘Mr. Fell?’ Magnus smiled,

‘Yeah, London is a beautiful place.’ Before Alec could respond, Magnus suddenly got up, ‘Oh, I forgot! Mumma had asked me to treat you to cookies when you came over. You must be hungry. Wait, I’ll be right back.’ With that, the 8-year old ran off without further explanation.

Alec took the album and looked at the grinning boy in the picture. He didn’t know what struck him but he quickly removed the picture and pocketed it hoping Magnus wouldn’t find out that he had.